How The Gamecocks Will Upset Ole Miss

Ole Miss -9.5 at South Carolina 3:30 ESPN

The Rebels began SEC play last week with a shocking loss to unranked Kentucky at home. They were 15.5 point favorites in that game. They are officially in desperation mode heading into week 2 of SEC action. Every team has games they know they are supposed to win. The key to a good season is you have to win all of those and then steal a game or 2. Ole Miss will be in some toss up/underdog situations after this week with next week going to LSU, and then they have Oklahoma and GA over their next 4 games. If they lose to the Gamecocks the pre season hype about SEC champs/National champ contenders is over even if they run that gauntlet. Lane Kiffin is considered an offense guru and you’ll be getting his best shot Saturday with a team that’s loaded with talent. After stealing Juice Wells, whom some would say was the Gamecocks best receiver (I say Legette but understand the argument) Wells doesn’t have even 1/3rd of the receptions of their top receiver.  Tre Harris has 49 receptions for 804 yards after 5 games! Juice isn’t even #2. That’s Cayden Lee with 16. Juice has 14 but some explosive plays averaging almost 20 yards per catch! Ole Miss is explosive all the way around with the #1 ranked offense in America. And yet they only got 17 points last week? Did Kentucky solve the riddle? Sort of maybe? The stats look pretty even with passing and rushing yards between the 2 teams. There was one fumble which certainly helped KY as Ole Miss was inside the redzone. KY also benefited from a missed FG at the end of the game. KY also fumbled going into the end-zone but their TE plucked it out of the air for a TD. Any of those go different and Ole Miss probably wins a tight game. The big thing KY did was keep the ball. Time of Possession was twice as long for KY! Ole Miss only had the ball for 20 minutes while the Wildcats had it for 40! Can the Gamecocks play keep away? The run game is usually key to that and we’re kind of mid in that ranking 40th. But KY is even worse ranked 78th. We’re similar in passing as well with them ranked 113th and us ranked 107. KY is ranked 9th in D and we’re 14th. So we have a lot of similarities except in penalties where they average 41 YPG and we average 74. Worse than the yards, is the frequency as we rank 113th in the nation for most penalties. Momentum killers/get out of jail free for the other team cards.

So here’s how we’re going to beat them. Ole Miss is 2nd in the nation in sacks and we’re 126th in giving them up. The big dogs up front are looking to feast! We will show them pass and they will pin their ears back. Quick slants and delayed draws will be our weapon of choice. After Tuesday’s practice Coach Beamer said "LaNorris and Rocket were both out there. They both looked good," Beamer said in his press conference. "They both told me they felt great, and they look good, and they'll both be able to do even more tomorrow, I would think, as well." If LaNorris Sellers and Rocket Sanders are in the backfield the run game should look pretty good. But more importantly hit TE Josh Simons one on one with an LB and it’s not too hard to imagine him breaking a tackle for a huge gain. Rocket chip blocking and drifting into space for a short reception could be 6 points as he is so dangerous if he has any room. Williams Brice is one of the loudest stadiums in America and Ole Miss has yet to play a road game this season. NC State doesn’t count. Their offensive line failed the test at home against Kentucky. South Carolina D line is much faster than the Wildcats featuring Kyle Kennard, Dylan Stewart and then throw in Boogie, Tonka, TJ Sanders and a lot of depth to keep the guys fresh. The strength of Kentucky line is in the middle to stop runs. Ole Miss is a pass first offense. South Carolina’s line is built to get to the QB. Kyle Kennard has 5.5 sacks after 4 games!  The SC D backs are some of the biggest in the SEC led by Emmanwori at 6’3” 228lbs, and every one of them over 6 feet. Ole Miss has been picking 5’9” DBs to start the season. 50/50 balls are a 80/20 if you’ve got 3 inches on a guy. They’re back to 50/50 now or possibly even 40//60.This changes everything for them. Throw in the chaos of noise and that should get us a few false starts and missed blocking assignments. It’s rare to have a must win this early in the season. They will be playing tight and we’re loose! Ole Miss will get their points for sure, but I expect the Gamecocks to win the turnover battle giving them another shot to score or at the very least keep Jaxon Dart off the field and frustrated. And we’re going to probably need a special teams shocker to help as well which Shane usually has one up his sleeve for games like this. Beamer Ball wins it 35-31!

Reminder if you're going to the game, the team requests all fans wear garnet Saturday.